First Aid Certified

Yesterday while I was driving home from work I saw a girl get hit by a truck. I was kind of stuck in traffic and on the on coming traffic I saw an older Ford truck slam on his brake right before nailing this girl, neither of them were going very fast, the girl rolled to the ground but then didn't get up. The guy driving the truck got out really quickly and had his cell phone out. I debated pulling over because there was so much traffic but I hurried and pulled into a car wash parking area and grabbed my blood borne pathogens kit they gave me at work, (which I always keep in my glove box) and ran across the street. I was the first to respond! Well besides the kid that hit her and he was on the phone to 911... Plus I was CPR & First Aid certified. She was unconscious but breathing...and smelled very strongly of alcohol. Just seconds after I got there her friend was there and said she was drunk and had asthma...but this time there is tons of traffic, and out of no where this lady on the opposing side is yelling out her window that she has an inhaler! with her arm waving out of the window with an inhaler. That made me laugh, because she was breathing okay she was just unconscious! The police arrived in less than 2 minutes and I didn't actually see what happened so they didn't need me any longer.

I've never come onto an accident like that, and luckily it wasn't worse. Ironically I have my First Aid training scheduled for Monday morning...that sure would have been nice LAST Monday. I think I did okay but she wasn't in too bad of shape! When I left I had adrenaline pumping through me so fast, I was totally excited that I actually stopped and got to help. I called Jed to tell him I was running late because I was a hero and totally saved someone's live!

Almost Famous!

I can't keep a secret! Jed was hoping to keep it a secret and then surprise everyone! But it's legitimate, they are filming "Everybody Loves Whales" Starring Drew Barrymore here in Anchorage. They are considering using the Willy's in the film...it's going to be FAMOUS!!! Maybe Drew Barrymore will drive it? Or John Krasinski (Jim from the Office) is also starring in the film!! It's so exciting!! I am going to try to audition to be an extra and maybe we will both be famous!

A New Semester

Tonight I semi-enjoyed my last evening without homework. Tomorrow is my first day of my Fall Semester. I am registered for Statistics (again), Demography, and Social Theory. I am only a few semesters from graduating, well to be more specific about 3...so I am getting to the more intensive courses, the ones where they actually expect you to know something about Sociology. I have a feeling this semester is going to be very crazy! It already started today. In order for me to continue working 40 hours a week I have to flex my hours around my school schedule. That means that I have to work late a few nights, go in super early other mornings and hope that nothing else comes up. It is really difficult to continue working when even the janitors are leaving for the evening, but hopefully I will have more work to do soon and if not I can sneak in some study time after everyone's gone.

One thing I am excited about it having Jed back! He flies in on Wednesday...this little break has been the longest we've been apart since we got married. It is strange not to have him around. I'm not to the point in our marriage that I enjoy the 'time apart'...as some have suggested.

So come this week I am starting my 40 hours plus 9 credit school schedule...Farewell friends!

Saturday

I spent another weekend cleaning my apartment! I think the vinegar is starting to work, but I also read the coffee grinds help absorb the smell. I have about 20 nylons full of coffee grinds hanging around. I washed the windows, put baking soda on the carpets. Have any of you ever moved into a place that had a chain smoker living there? I guess I got my mom's hyper-sensitive sense of smell because it drives me crazy!

But in addition to washing walls I hit some garage sales this morning and also I went with my co-worker to the Saturday's market...while at one of the garage sales I got some really cool plants! They are kind of crazy but maybe they will help freshen things up! I think I am going to call them Oscar & Jerry...let's see if I can keep them alive during the winter when there is no sunlight!

Above: Oscar

Below: Jerry

Office Space

I feel just like Milton from the Office Space!

"And I said, I don't care if they lay me off either, because I told, I told Dixi that if they move my desk one more time, then, then I'm, I'm quitting, I'm going to quit. And, and I told Barb too, because they've moved my desk four times already this year, and I used to be over by the window, and I could see the Moose, and they were merry, but then, they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler, but I kept my Swingline stapler because it didn't bind up as much, and I kept the staples for the Swingline stapler and it's not okay because if they take my stapler then I'll set the building on fire..."

My new desk! It's smaller...further away from a window and I now share an office with two other ladies.

But I got to bring my stapler with me!

From Fairbanks to Anchorage

I finally finished my mini-mester at University of Fairbanks...well kind of I have one more paper to submit by tomorrow. But Jed and I decided to go to the Tanana Fair before we started packing!
The fair is awesome, it is small, but it has some really good food! We only had time for, corn on the cob that had been completely submersed in butter, deep fried chip-on-a-stick, Denali Creme puffs with a gallon of rich chocolate syrup on top, deep fried elephant ears, lemonade with vanilla. It was delicious!

I really love Fairbanks! It was a beautiful summer, warm and sunny all summer long!
But alas! Summer must end.
Jed and I moved into our dive of an apartment Thursday evening. We arrived to find that the carpet had not been fully installed...and that they only decided to replace the front room, not the bedrooms carpet. Also, they only painted where they had patched holes, with white paint over a creamy tan color...it looks great!
So needless to say it didn't help the smokey smell one bit! This is our fabulous kitchen...with bright orange counter tops.
(note the color in comparison to the fire extinguisher)

This is my favorite part the big windows...also because I can open the window and the smokey smell kind of passes for a minute.


We found an awesome couch at a clearance center and Jed recruited his co-worker to help move it up the stairs (3 flights of awkward stairs)

We were both really tired after moving everything in...but Jed had to turn around and drive back to Fairbanks!

Our summer fling ended!

Jed won't be back until school starts, about a week and a half...then he'll be back almost every 'weekend'.

I start working again tomorrow and I have walls to wash to see if the smoke smell will go away.

Just Some Randomness

Just some randomness!

Our happy little family, including the new truck, my car and the Willy's

Jed's new truck! It's really dirty because we just got back from Anchorage when I took this picture.

My little flower garden...home grown in the Midnight sun!

I finally figured out what my mystery plant was! I thought it was maybe a pepper plant...turns out it is a sunflower! I'm surprised it bloomed at all!

Crossing the Nenana Bridge!
It was a long trip! We spent the majority of the time in the truck driving around looking for a place to live! We were both very happy to be so close to home!

My snacks and new water bottle!

At the Tanana Valley State Fair Leah and I got Glittery Tattoos! We also ate sooo much food, and found some really fun things! And Finally!!
Yesterday was the annual ULCER ride...the 100+ mile ride around Utah Lake. I have fond memories of this ride...and I was unable to make it down to ride it this year. Every year Mama Beck, my sister Annette and I rode together! I rode after only two weeks from returning from my mission! I flew down last year just to ride...But this year it didn't happen and that is okay because Mama Beck is in bed, on a twelve week recovery from a nasty bike crash! So if Becky can't do it, none of us were going to do it. Annette also didn't ride this year. I thought of them though and really missed them...especially on our drive home we passed a gas station in Nenana that had 3 beautiful cyclists taking a break, and it really reminded me of all the good times!

Now Leasing!

Jed and I came to Anchorage this week to find an apartment. It was really frustrating! Rent is so expensive in Anchorage. For a 1-2 bedroom it is around $1000! That is the price for really ghetto looking apartments, in shady parts of town. We tried calling a bunch of places and no one called us back, so we drove by about 16 places. Most of them did not have parking space available for three vehicles. We finally got an appointment to see one, after seeing the apartment...we were so worried we weren't going to find anything, we were willing to take it even though it was more than what we wanted to pay...but then the manager told us that they didn't have anything available until September.

Why did you just waste our time showing us that apartment?! Which is not even available?!

We did get a hold of another property manager that dogged us the night before by telling us to call him back around 5pm and when we called the office closed at 4pm.

But
That worked out. The place is a nice looking area, with plenty of parking! It is close to the freeway, closer to campus and work. Plus it was in our price range! It has a washer and dryer, two bedrooms and a fire place!

It unfortunately had horrible carpet stains, a bad paint job and horrible smokey smell...since the last tenant smoked. So we tried to negotiate the rental price...instead the manager agreed to replace the carpet! Plus they might replace the hideous bright red kitchen counter tops. Hopefully that will take care of the smokey smell. If not any ideas?

Yay!
So we just signed a lease...and we can move in next week! (as planned!)
Pictures coming soon!

Busy Weekend

We had a busy weekend.


Friday was our date 'day'...since pretty much spend the entire day doing dating activities. First we bought a new Frisbee and went to a soccer field on campus...Frisbee is hard! It is an intense workout too! Especially for us, we really suck and can't aim very well...well at least I really can't throw!
It was a really nice day, bright and sunny, hot about 83 degrees!

Then we went to see the movie Salt with Angelina as a Russian spy! It was good, it kept me guessing the whole movie. I was glad I saw it early.

Then we went to North Pole to eat at Pagoda...which is the best Chinese food in Alaska, by like a million times. It seems it is so hard to find good Chinese food. Jed and I seem to have bad luck with Chinese food...even before we were together, back when we were just friends we went to probably the worst Chinese restaurants ever! So of course we finally find a good one just before I'm moving back to Anchorage.

This weekend we also bought Jed's new truck (I'll post a picture soon...I can't find a 'look-a-like' picture on google)
That was pretty much an all day event.

I also spent about 4 hours cleaning my car, inside it gets so dusty living on a dirt road. I shampooed the carpets and everything. I also killed my battery...and was stuck at the cabin for four hours while Jed was driving out to Healy to get the new truck. It was frustrating considering we had two other vehicles in our driveway...but with no keys!
Sunday I also spent about 5+ hours working on the new truck! It was way worse than my car. The former owner worked in a mine and also had his little girl in it all the time...Kid mess is way worse to clean. I think she was a fan of smashing licorice nibs into the carpet.

It was a good weekend...but it went by too fast.